Book Review #1: Witches Abroad

It’s no secret to most of my friends that since I’ve discovered Terry Pratchett I’ve been inhuming every word in the depths of my mind. He’s brilliant. Pick up any one of his books and your afternoon has just been made ten times over.

Terry does what Joss Whedon does with television. Only he does it so much better. (No offense to Joss.) Every cliche, every trope (Search: Television Tropes and Idioms), and every pre conceived notion that comes with writing a novel is turned about on it’s head when you open the pages of any Discworld novel.

It’s no surprise to me that he tackled fairy tales.

Witches Abroad is one of those novels that will have you laughing aloud and smiling to yourself without being aware that you’re doing so. It’s brilliantly funny, surprisingly poignant in some places, and will have you questioning how exactly you view the world. It will make you question the meaning of happy endings, who exactly might be good and why you don’t travel more often. And, unlike most “high literature,” it will have you laughing most of the way there.

I can’t say that Witches Abroad was one of Terry’s best, which is why I’ve only given it four stars. The pace of this novel was unusual for him, perhaps a little too slow in places where he had already established the final destination. Maybe I’m a bit impatient.

However, the three main witches are a delight every time they speak, so if you’re not too impatient for the grand finale, the journey there will be fantastic.